Owen Chapman's Future of Mashups Keynote Encourages Experimentation

Music professor and DJ Owen Chapman talks about the politics of sampling music in this future of mashups keynote.

Mashups are pieces of sample-based music making, the process in which two samples from different songs are blended together to create a new track. In the past decade there have been several cases in which musicians and DJ artists have been sued and penalized for incorporating music from other bands into a song.

Chapman argues that sampling shouldn't be seen as an act of pirating or stealing but as way of paying homage to music that an artist admires. Bill C-32 aims to legalize the creation and distribution of mashups by making it so that artists, as long as they don't make profits from the mashup and cite which samples have been used, can create and share their sample-based tracks. Owen Chapman ends his speech by promoting mashups and encouraging music producers to not be afraid to allow other people to sample their music; it's a great way to create and experience new music and increase cultural richness.